You don’t need to live in a tiny house to feel short on space. In fact, even a larger home can sometimes feel like you’ve got clutter coming out of every nook and cranny. That’s why the tiny house trend is a wonderful place to find inspiration for your own storage woes. Those compact spaces need to make the most out of what they’ve got, which isn’t much. The result is some amazingly clever storage ideas, and as this trend grows, so do the storage hacks.
What is a Tiny House
This latest fad is American by birth but has quickly taken over the world with more and more people making the decision to down size into this micro living environment. Tiny Houses take the studio apartment one step further by paring down everything to the essentials in a space less than 400 sqft, but always doing so in style. Many have even chosen to put their Tiny House on wheels for the full nomadic approach.
Tiny Houses are popular amongst those who want to travel, love a new trend or simply want to simplify their life to the essential and the beautiful. For some, it’s become the only solution in a world where house prices are sky rocketing the prospect of ever ‘stepping onto the ladder’ is seeming more distant every day.
Whether you’re looking to downsize yourself or just want to get a bit more space in your life, a Tiny House mindset could benefit us all. To help you take the plunge and finally clear out the loft or reclaim the cupboard under the stairs, here’s some of our favourite tiny house inspired storage trends.
Multi-functional furniture
Opt for furniture that serves more than one function. This includes items that combine several furniture uses into one, or simply furniture that doubles as an extra storage unit. Traditionally this has meant beds with storage boxes or drawers underneath, or the odd ottoman with a lift-up lid. Don’t forget the sofa bed futon, either.
Today, this has extended to stairs with drawers and beds, not to mention the vast array of table-chair combinations and mirrors with secret shelving. Places like Ikea are specialising in all types of special multifunction furniture to help you with those tighter spaces, as well as modular furniture that can be rearranged and added to over time to suit your changing needs at home.
Make the most of the full space
Tiny Houses make the most of the full height of the room with storage that thinks bigger… or taller. Building shelves upwards is a fantastic way to get additional storage without taking up even more precious floor space. You can put shelves almost anywhere including above windows, doors and kitchen cabinets. This hack can even look great by using repurposed wood for a stylish rustic look.
Tiny Houses are also big fans of slat wall shelving. Slat wall panels are used on the walls to create versatile and flexible shelving where simple shelves can be slotted in and moved around, added to and reduced depending on your storage needs.
Of course, don’t forget to look down low after all those dizzying heights. Under floor storage and wall storage should also all be utilised as much as possible if you’re dealing with an especially small space.
Keep it open
Not everything has to be stored away behind closed doors. After all, cabinets, boxes and doors just take up more space. The Tiny House trend now sees a lot of kitchens keeping everything out in the open with multipurpose shelves where you can store pots and pans on top as well as hanging utensils and other kitchens items underneath. It may be a Tiny House original, but this trend is becoming just as popular in big kitchen spaces.
As well as shelving, try pin and peg boards as well as magnetic strips and even magnetic paint. This works for knives and utensils as well as for pots and containers that you can use to store other items such as spices or stationary.
Get wheeling and sliding
Doors that open are doors that take up floor space. Sliding doors take up much less space and usually make it easier to organise your floorplan and layout when you don’t have to worry about the extra room a swinging door will take up. Plus, they look pretty cool as well.
Doors aren’t the only thing you can slid, either. Using wheels and sliding mechanisms on your furniture can be a handy way to store them temporarily in smaller spaces. When you do need to use them, simply wheel them out. Everything from beds to desks and chairs are potential candidates for this slick solution.
Organise the storage space
After you’ve made the most of the space with clever storage, you need to make the most of your storage with clever organisation. Wardrobes and cabinets can all be divided to make the storage space suitable for all your items. For example, wardrobes can be divided with shelves and rails to hang long items, shorter items like trousers as well as drawers for underwear and accessories all in one. Similarly, if you find some empty space in the top half of a storage cabinet, try hanging additional items from the top with the help of a rail.